Constant Justice put his tough fighting qualities on show after he came from behind when headed to score in the $60,000 Open Benchmark 67 race over 1000m on Friday night.
After getting on the board at his second Kranji start three weeks ago, in a 1000m speed dash as well, the Mohd Yusof-trained gelding by Magnus gave his legion of backers a few nervous moments when he had to kick up on the inside to hold the advantage from Honest Truth (Nooresh Juglall) while Uncle Lucky (Sam Subian) and Southern Boss (Wong Chin Chuen) came serving it to him four abreast.
After such a full-on tempo from the outset, the $8 hotpot was entitled to fold, but he surprisingly found another gear to stay upfront, while Honest Truth was gone and Uncle Lucky was also backpedalling.
But not Southern Boss, who is mostly known as a speed bunny himself. The Bletchley Park seven-year-old levelled up with Constant Justice at the furlong mark, but the latter stuck to his guns under Nunes’ desperate urgings to come back with a pugnacious one-length win.
Southern Boss had to settle for second spot two and a half lengths clear of Gato Negro (Oscar Chavez). The winning time was 59.16 seconds for the 1000m on the Polytrack.
Known as someone who shuns the spotlight, Yusof simply said Constant Justice was a gallant sort, and he would not be adverse to the idea of testing him over 1100m in the future.
“He’s a nice horse. He fought very hard tonight,” said Yusof who continues on his current solid form with win No 20.
“I think he can go over 1100m next.”
Though Nunes has now bagged two wins on the Lucky Stable-owned sprinter, he said the former Victorian-based and Matt Laurie-trained gelding was still finding his bearings around Kranji.
“He’s still not fully acclimatised and he’s still not able to switch his legs, but he sure is a fighter,” said the Brazilian jockey.
“He’s only a small horse, but he did a good job under the 58kgs tonight. When Nooresh came across with his horse (Honest Truth), I kept him out as I knew he’s got no chance.
“He’s not a sit-and-sprint sort, and I wanted to keep him going through, and he won a nice race in the end.”
With that second win, Constant Justice has already brought stakes earnings close to the $80,000 mark on top of the A$41,935 he already pocketed in Australia from his two wins and three placings.
